Event:

Description:
In my own life, I have vacillated back and forth between worlds of logic and worlds of magic, from playing in the woods as a youngster, to getting a Ph.D. in chemistry, to traveling across oceans in a kayak, to traveling across boundaries to the Other World with a Siberian shaman. In a sense, each of us in our own way, vacillates back and forth between worlds of logic and worlds of magic.

My presentation will be a memoir driven journey through my own passages back and forth between worlds of logic and worlds of magic. The talk is based on two of my books, The Ravens Gift, and Tracking Lions, Myth, and Wilderness in Samburu. After Moolynaut, the Siberian shaman, healed my broken pelvis, I tried to understand this healing in terms of both my direct experiences and my scientific background. This quest for understanding brought me intellectually and physically to the Olduvai Gorge, the crucible of human evolution. It leads to the paradox that as Paleozoic humans sought magic through myth, stories, art, and music, the magic was hijacked by the logic within the human brain to cause all sorts of trouble. I end with a call to listen to the magic inherent in nature, as a sane and healthy path forward.

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John Turk Bio:
Dr. Jon Turk earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1971 and was nominated by National Geographic as one of the Top Ten Adventurers of the Year in 2012. Between these bookends, Jon co-authored the first environmental science textbook in North America, followed by 35 additional texts. At the same time, he kayaked around Cape Horn, across the North Pacific, and around Ellesmere Island. He has mountain biked across the Gobi in Mongolia and made first ski descents and first rock climbing ascents around the globe. In Siberia, Jon’s worldview was altered by Moolynaut, a Siberian shaman, and his later books reflect these spiritual journeys